Sen. Daniel K. Akaka, chairman of a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs subcommittee, held a hearing to call attention to rising health insurance premiums paid by federal employees and retirees—a surprising choice of topic, perhaps, given that those premiums rose only 1.8 percent in 2007. Read more »
House members Tom Allen, D-Maine, and Jo Ann Emerson, R-Mo., introduced legislation that would increase funding for research to help health care providers and patients decide which drugs, medical devices, and treatments are the most effective. Read more »
The budget deal adopted by the House and Senate authorizes a $50 billion reserve fund to expand coverage of uninsured children, a provision hailed by Democrats. But it doesn't simplify the process of actually finding that money. Read more »
State insurance regulators joined Senate Aging Committee Chairman Herb Kohl, D-Wis., in saying that Medicare officials are failing to properly oversee the marketing of private plans in Medicare, with Kohl revealing the results of a congressional investigation he said found "countless" cases of seniors being preyed upon by unscrupulous insurance agents. Read more »
House Ways and Means Health Subcommittee Chairman Pete Stark will intensify efforts to lay the groundwork for Medicare cuts likely to target many sectors in health care. The California Democrat has already clarified that he will try to trim payments to Medicare Advantage plans, but he'll begin turning more of his attention to Medicare payments to hospitals, home health agencies, and skilled nursing facilities. Read more »
As congressional scrutiny of Medicare private fee-for-service plans increases, a new study suggests the plans are not worth the additional costs to beneficiaries and the Medicare program. Read more »
The U.S. health care system ranks last or next-to-last when compared with five other nations surveyed in a new report from The Commonwealth Fund. Read more »